Sentinels - History
Detailed History The Sentinels trace their origins to another world called Erde. On that world, the Sentinel Knights were a brave and powerful order that safeguarded various independent kingdoms of western Erde from the neighboring Eglebarian Empire. The Order traces its origins to a group of warriors led by Jarek, the Dragon Maw. Jarek, who saw that the various kingdoms were threatening their security by feuding and bickering, south to unite them militarily in lieu of their opposite to political unity. A man of immense strength and charisma (hence his nickname), Jarek took the greatest warriors from each of the seven kingdoms and built a castle. In sponsoring the new construction, the kings all agreed to cede just a small amount of their authority to the new entity. From this original Sentinel Castle, he trained the various kingdoms warriors into elite soldiers, designed not only to ensure the mutual cooperation of the kingdoms, but to also serve as the vanguard against the Eglebarian Empire. Just a few short years after construction was finished, the empire launched an invasion force. With the help of his military advisor, a regional baron called Victor von Magnus (later dubbed 'Oberst'), Jarek met the Eglebarians in a pitched battle as they tried to disembark their transport vessels. The element of surprise helped to put the battle in the Sentinels favor, but the vast numbers of the empire allowed them to continue fighting even as the water and sand began to stain red with blood. After nearly two days of nonstop fighting, the Eglebarians were broken and sent back into the sea, but the fighting claimed the life of Jarek and almost two-thirds of the Sentinel ranks. Despite heavy losses, the surprise victory of the upstart military force over the empire gave the Sentinels the necessary legitimacy they needed. Victor, sensing that his wounds had cut his own life short, appointed his lieutenant, Siegfried Anatidus. Donning the title of 'Overseer,' Anatidus ceded some of his own power to one of his fellow Sentinels, Cole Juunanagou. Cole took on the title 'Volksgeist' and with it the duty to ensure the spirits of their men. With their future solidified, Siegfried and Cole saw the Sentinel Order well on its way to a position of key importance within the Seven Kingdoms of the East. Upon their deaths, they passed on their position and authority to their children, and since then, the dynastic line has remained uninterrupted. The Sentinel Order, originally simply a castle of knights, began to develop into a castle town. Members of the order moved their families into the land around the castle, and over generations, a thriving city developed that began to rival many of the poorer of the Seven Kingdoms. In the west, the Eglebarian Empire tried roughly twelve times in six hundred years to invade and conquer the east, but every time, they were defeated. The most recent failed attempt was only a few years before Piper and Undrask's arrival in Ceardia. Military and commercial success, however, caused a schism to develop between the Sentinel Order and the Seven Kingdoms. The present kings, fearing that their political authority was threatened by the Sentinels, conspired to destroy the organization that had protected their ancestors for countless generations. For all their military training, the Sentinels were not prepared for the treachery and deceit that would ultimately destroy them. Soldiers from the Seven Kingdoms, many of them having served alongside Sentinels in the most recent repulsion of the Empire, infiltrated and set about burning the Sentinel city of Görlitz. The superior training that had thrown back the hordes of imperial invasion was no match for such a vicious and well-planned assault. The Sentinel defenses succumbed to attrition, sabotage, or betrayal. Even the Overseer and the Oberst were cut down in the violent struggles. In the end, the current Volksgeist, the seventeenth descendent of the original, ordered a final escape. His body, broken in the last war, was kept together in many places by metal braces. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the forces of the Seven Kingdoms infiltrated the inner sanctum, he crafted a 'portal gate' using arcane magics handed down to him by his ancestors. Before they could interject, he ordered his daughter Piper and the son of the dead Overseer through the gate. Once he ensured the were through, he shattered the ancient diamond that housed the magic and burned the documents that housed the rituals. The road to Erde was forever closed. Piper and Undrask found themselves in a strange new world, Ceardia. See PiperJ's character biography for information since the arrival of the Sentinels in Ceardia. Category:Sentinels